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Students who had their scholarship exams cancelled in the wake of the Kaikoura earthquake have now been given a new date to sit their tests.

History and chemistry scholarship students were the only NCEA pupils to have their exams cancelled after last Monday's 7.8 magnitude quake, which rocked much of the country and devastated large swathes of North Canterbury.

Confusion reigned however, as notification of the cancellation was only sent out at 8.58am. The first exam was due to start at 9.30am.

It meant pupils in some schools began to sit the history scholarship test, only to be pulled out mid-way through.

Other students sat the full exam, and only found out afterwards that it was supposed to have been cancelled.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) later said pupils who sat the exam would be marked on the test they completed. Those who did not sit it or only answered some of the questions before it was cancelled mid-way would sit a new exam, with a fresh paper written up.

Today the authority announced the history scholarship will be held at 2pm on Monday, November 28. Chemistry scholarship has been scheduled for 2pm on Thursday, December 1.

No NCEA exams were cancelled in the wake of the earthquakes, despite hundreds of pupils being awake all night before last Monday's sessions, and many without homes or anywhere to study in the week that followed.

For students unable to sit an exam, their school can use standard specific work, such as mock exams, produced during the school year to submit a recommended grade to NZQA. Applications are made through their school.

"NZQA is working closely with schools and will continue to do so over the examination period to learn more about how schools have been affected and how students are being supported," the authority states on its website.